2. GENERAL INFO
• Small post pandemic Utopian Community
• Eco-village
• 300 Members (including children)
• 0 CARBON FOOTPRINT
• Territory claimed: peak of Lions Head Mountain in
Pine CO down to the basin and through the Valley.
4. THE STATUS OF THE COUNTRY
• 5 years after serious Pandemic disaster
– Population seriously diminished
– Non existent Government
– Small communities exist throughout the country but no
major cites are known to exist
• Contact between the communities consists of face to face trading
as well as CB radio chains
5. KEY ELEMENTS OF WILD ROOT
• Plateau at the peak of Lion’s Head serves as home
for members.
– Called The Living Village
– Surrounded by Forest on one side , and cliffs on the
other three
• Allows for high visibility for great distances
– Helpful when watching for danger/intruders
6. KEY ELEMENTS OF WILD ROOT
• The Pine Tree Forest
– thick in spots and thin in others
• protection from the elements
• ample opportunity for wind turbines or solar panels.
– Runs from peak of Lion’s Head down to basin
• Helps to create a barrier between the rest of society
– Serves as habitat for an array of wildlife that can be
hunted for food
7. KEY ELEMENTS OF WILD ROOT
• The Trail
– guides members from “The Living Village” down the
lions back to the base of the mountain where the trail
splits
• Follow the path to the left and you will find the gathering
compounds snuggled into the valley formed by Lion’s head and
the neighboring mountain.
• Follow the path to the right to reach the fields, gardens and
domestic animal housing.
8. KEY ELEMENTS OF WILD ROOT
• Elk Falls
– deep creek flowing along the edge of the mountainside
will serve as a major water and food source for the
community.
– Creek follows along the trail from the living village
• splits off into separate small brooks
– Half way down the trail the creek cascades off the side
into a thick rushing waterfall
• pours down into the valley creating another large water source
filled with fish.
10. KEY ELEMENTS OF WILD ROOT
• The Valley
– Between Lion’s Head and Neighboring mountains on left
– Houses all of the “Gathering Compound” buildings
– Running Water from Waterfall
• Used for cleaning, cooking, bathing, swimming and water
powered generators
– Creek that connects to Colorado River
• Provides transportation and light trade route
12. THE LIVING VILLAGE
• Where members sleep, dress, relax and preform daily
duties associated with home life
• The upper creek serves as a bathing facility for all
members
• Members reside in Canvas teepees
– endure subfreezing winters or—keep cool in roasting summer
weather.
– shape sheds rain while withstanding hurricane winds
– will hold the heat—but not the smoke—of a toasty fire.
– Approximately 20 ft in diameter
– Two families to a teepee (4-6 people)
13. THE LIVING VILLAGE CONTINUED
• Laid out in 5 tight circles around a central fire
• Designated children’s tents for sleeping
– Positioned inside larger circle for safety
– Watched over by all Members
• Each tent contains
– Wood burning Fire
• Used both for warmth and light
– Holding trunks for each member living there
• including children belonging to the families
• Contains clothing and any other too special to share items
– 1 sleeping mat shared by 2 people
• All equip with temprupedic mattress toppers and high thread count
sheets pulled from stores that have long been abandon
15. THE GATHERING COMPOUND
• All activities and community duties happen here
– Members spend most of their days within the compound
• Comprised of 10 buildings
– Team built by all members
– Created with resources found in the area surrounding
the Village
• Claw straw, Adobe Floors
• Passive solar design to help with heating, cooling and lighting
16. THE GATHERING COMPOUND
• Building 1: Large kitchen
powered by water powered
generator and eating
quarters large enough for all
members to eat together
• Building 2: Production and
Idea hall: Think tank for
members who have
• Building 3:Infirmary: Staffed
when needed by members
who were once doctors and
surgeons
• Building 4: Classrooms: Used
for the schooling of children
and for the teaching of trades
• Building 5: Activities Hall:
Large enough to hold
gatherings for all members.
Games are played, Group
meditations are held if it is
raining
17. COMMUNAL DINING
Meals are shared twice a day
and the left over food is used
in a compost site
All foods are grown on the
compound in large gardens
and in the fields.
The animals kept on the
compound are used for
keeping the farm in order
and for providing eggs
In an event where there is
nothing to be hunted in the
area- pigs are used as food.
18. COMMUNITY VALUES
• Simple lifestyle which incorporates respect, work, open communication, humor,
free inquiry, fun, and creative expression and nurtures the human spirit .
• A wise and sustainable society which restores biodiversity and integrates the
community with nature
• Human health, community health and the health of our planet are interconnected
and interdependent
• Every person has inherent dignity and worth regardless of age, sex, race, sexual
orientation, abilities, financial resources, or spiritual or political beliefs
• Cooperation and teamwork is our model for interaction
• Collaboration is most likely to occur in an environment which respects individual
rights to privacy
• Taking individual responsibility for our own needs and decisions as well as caring
about the well-being of others supports community
• Our children deserve special attention, support and nourishment
19. ORIGINAL 5’S VALUE STATEMENT
“We strive for a society that meets everyone’s
needs. We believe social change is realized through
changing individual behaviors, challenging belief
systems, and working collectively to
transform systems and cultures characterized by
power-over relationships often labeled racism,
sexism, heterosexism, ableism, ageism, and numerous
other power-over systems. We value peace, fair trade,
economic justice, environmental justice, and
community activism”
20. COMMUNAL GOALS
• To promote and ensure the long-term structural
integrity of the community.
• To catalyze local and global change through
learning, teaching, and networking.
• To shift from wasteful to regenerative use of
resources
• To use and develop ecologically sound
technologies for water, waste, energy,
construction, and other essential systems.
• To develop and support a thriving local economy.
• To grow, raise, and trade our own food, medicines,
and forestry products in an environmentally
responsible, bioregional network
• To practice fair, participatory, and effective self-
governance.
• To encourage an atmosphere in which diverse
spiritual practices, conscious connection to all
beings, and progressive social action can thrive.
21. LAWS AND JUSTICE
Although there is very little crime within the tribe, laws were put in place when it was in its
creation for the safety of the members during a time of uncertainty.
• Theft within the community is equivalent to murder.
– Members share all things that are needed to survive, the theft of another members personal belongings is
seen as completely unnecessary and would only be done out of spite. Punished by casting out of tribe into
nature.
• Believe that Mother nature will punish exiled member as she sees fit
• Slander against another member is another terrible crime.
– If someone has been of a crime but is proven innocent by the original 5 , the accuser is immediately
exiled. The original 5 also confers on the accused some public mark of his favor, and proclamation is made
of his innocence through tribe.
• Laziness cannot be tolerated within a community that has a shared work load.
– If a member is not pulling his or her own weight they are given a second work load that is to be completed
during leisure hours. This job often consists of hard labor outdoors or something very tedious and difficult.
• Denial of Equality to any member-
– Equality among all members is the most important rule within the tribe. Any act of bigotry, sexism, racism
within the tribe will result in intensive corrections course taught by the 5 originals as well as meals taken
alone and the removal of right to vote on communal decisions.
• All crimes of morality are punished by exile with the thought that nature will punish the wrong
doer to the correct extent – member is never aloud to return
22. MY PEOPLE- GENERAL INFO
• Refer to themselves as “members”
• English speaking
• 57% men 53% women
• Led by “Original 5”
• Democratic voting system
• 55 Children in population
• No specific religion, but share common respect for
nature, all religions, beliefs and strive to accept all
people.
23. WHAT KINDS OF PEOPLE
• Survivors came from all backgrounds
– Doctors, handymen, midwives, builders, scientists,
translators, students, and so many more
– Each member uses his or her talent or training to benefit
the group at some point while living there.
– When it came time to rebuild and start-a-new helping
hands were not far from sight.
– The community is ever evolving with the innovation
coming from group collaboration of its members.
24. MY PEOPLE - APPAREL AND IDENTIFIERS
• No enforced dress code due to
lack of resources after disaster.
• Members assigned to clothing
making have only a few
patterns between them.
– Leads to unintentional
identifiers
• All members wear rock from
the Mountain as jewelry
– Mother Earth strengthens them
• Winter weather can get harsh
at the peak of the mountain
– Blankets are commonly seen
incorporated into members
attire.
25. SEX, LOVE AND MARRIAGE
• Reproduction within the tribe is necessary for the
survival of human kind.
• In order to keep the population growing at a
regular rate all women must bare at least three
children.
• Women who have had all 3 children are looked
upon as higher up than other members.
– They are often revered as heads of the community
– When 5 originals cannot come to a conclusion of
something they consult the mothers of the tribe
• Unmarried Women
– Names placed into a fertility vase at age 25
• Vase is made from river rock shaped by the falls
thought to hold mother earth’s power
– Every 9 months 5 names are pulled from vase
• These women will carry “Earth Babies”
• Partner is chosen by a ceremony held by the 5
originals
• Married Women
– Once married their names are removed from the
fertility vase.
– They are now free to produce their required
number of children or more by the age of 40
• Love is greatly admired among all members
– When two members fall in love it is believed that
Mother Earth’s magnetic fields have brought them
together
• Marriage –
– All married women of the tribe prepare the bride
for her wedding day
• Dress is made by most skilled seamstress in the
tribe with material retrieved from an abandoned
fabric stroe
• Her skin is rubbed in sage and her head is
wrapped in a wildflower crown She wears
jewelry made of rocks from the mountain.
• The vows combine man, woman and earth in a
ceremony led by the 5 originals.
• When a woman marries a man thoey are seen as
equals within the relationship. A woman is no
more her husbands than he is hers.
27. MY PEOPLE- PASS TIMES
• Art
• Yoga
• intellectual pursuits
• music, gardening, and
physical activity
• Hiking and swimming
• Story telling
• Practicing skills used for
hunting or benefiting the
tribe.
• Group meditation and
praising mother earth
• Berry picking
28. MY PEOPLE - CHILDREN
• Watched over by all members of the
community.
• Raised by parents
• Receive 3 meals a day
• Enter work group by age 15
Education:
Teachers: 5 originals
– 2 hours a day are devoted
to teaching the children
in the same subjects that
are taught in todays
schools.
– 2 hours are then
designated to the
teaching of trades,
survival, sustainability,
and other things needed
to further the tribe.
29. • All members work all jobs
within the community.
• Men and woman of both
races do the same jobs
along side each other with
no discrimination or doubt.
• A rotating schedule helps to
keep the work load light for
individuals while still
getting everything done in a
timely manor
• The members are divided
into three groups A group ,
B group and C group.
• Each week the groups
rotate responsibilities.
Example of Week 1:
Group A: prepares Breakfast and Dinner for
all members and lunch for the children
Group B: Leaves the community to go
hunting
Group C: Each member of group C
completes a job within the community.
Some work on the right side of the
mountain; tending the gardens, taking care
of the farm animals or working in the fields
Others do jobs on the gathering
compound or in the living village.
WORK
30. MY TRADE: WHAT I CAN DO ALONE TO
BENEFIT MY COMMUNITY
I am an artist, within
the community I will
work to create art that
will symbolize our tribe
and keep the members
inspired to strive for a
better, cleaner future.
I will also create the
jewelry from the rock of
the earth to help the
community come
together even more as a
group under mother
earth
31. ONE THING I CAN DO FOR MY COMMUNITY
WITH OTHERS
Members of the tribe find it very
important to preserve history for
the future generations.
I along with other members could
go into the abandon society and
collect books from the libraries
and begin to combine the most
important parts of history to teach
the children of the future.
Other members can provide impute
as to what they remember as we
combine all elements into a large
book that holds the history of he
world before us.
32. SOMETHING I CAN DO BY MYSELF FOR
MYSELF
Meditational Hiking :
Will allow me to
connect more wholly with
mother earth
Give me time to
think of ways to better
community
Allow me to work
take time away from tribe
as a whole in order to be
more tolerant
33. “The earth is crying from the devastation we have
brought to her, and deep inside we all know that our very
existence depends on our Mother. The future of our Earth
is uncertain. We bogged her down with human gunk,
poured chemicals across her beautiful lands and we
expected nothing to happen. Well folks, it did.
As one of the few survivors I feel that it is my
responsibility to start a new, to nurse her back to health
and to become one with her again. With your help we can
spread the word. Save the world, Save our future!”
THE ORIGINAL 5
34. THE ORIGINAL 5
• Group of 5 friends from college on a
2 week camping trip on Lions Head
during the time on the disaster,
being so secluded they were
unaware of the terror that was
sweeping the country.
• When they returned to civilization,
society had already disintegrated
• After extensive exploration and
radio transmissions they returned
to Lion’s Head and began living out
their lives as struggling survivors
• Other survivors who had heard the
transmissions began heading to
them
– Never intended that their camp
would become a destination for other
survivors
Serve as silent heads of Community
– final decision makers during voting
– Mentors to the children
– Guides during long trips away from
the mountain
– Each are highly skilled in survival
skills and all are college educated
Do not rule over members:
• Live among others as equals
• Looked upon with respect
without demanding it
• Members often come to them for
advise and spiritual guidance.
Editor's Notes
Photo by Kate Biller
Photo by : Jack Snelson, “Teepee Village”, Pendleton ’36
Photo found http://www.albuquerquerealestatebuzz.com/neighborhoods/gated-communities/wilderness-compound-gated-community-in-high-desert
This concept is inspired by the description of the work system in Utopia by Sir Thomas Moore